The present invention relates to an image forming system.
There has so far been known an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine provided with an image reading means that reads an image from a document on which an image is recorded and outputs as image data and with an image forming means that forms an image on a recording sheet based on image data coming from the image reading means.
In the image forming apparatus of this kind, simple image processing such as trimming can be conducted on image data obtained through reading by the image reading means, and the image forming means can form an image based on image data on which the image processing has been conducted.
Further, an image forming system to be used under an environmental condition of a network has been provided.
With regard to the image forming system, it is constituted when an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine and an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and a work station which instruct scanning (reading) of an image and printing for the image forming apparatus, for example, are connected mutually by a network. It is further possible to employ the structure wherein a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected to the network.
In the image forming system of this kind, there has been known a way to utilize as a scanner mode wherein image reading is instructed from the image processing apparatus to the image forming apparatus, and the image obtained by the image forming apparatus through reading is transmitted to the image processing apparatus.
In the conventional image forming system, image data of the image obtained by the image forming apparatus through reading in the scanner mode, for example, is transmitted to an information processing apparatus, and in the information processing apparatus which has received the image data, an image file is stored in a hard disc as it is, or the image file is transmitted to the image forming apparatus as occasion demands, thus, image forming can be conducted.
Under the situations stated above, the inventors of the invention have applied for a patent under TOKKAI No. 200-1333237 for the image forming system wherein an image processing means is provided outside an image forming apparatus, then, image processing is conducted by the external image processing means on image data obtained by the image forming apparatus through reading, and an image is formed on a recording sheet by the image forming apparatus.
As the latest image forming apparatus, there is known a multi-job copying machine wherein a plurality of jobs are accepted in advance, and they are processed in succession, when a series of operations including reading of an image on a document, conducting desired image processing and forming an image on a recording sheet are called a job.
An advantage of the multi-job copying machine is that an order of conducting plural jobs accepted can be changed freely.
As the multi-job copying machine of this kind, the inventors of the invention have applied for a patent for one wherein the order of priority for determining an order of conducting plural jobs can be set freely by a user.
However, there have been the following problems in an image forming apparatus such as the aforesaid conventional digital copying machine and an image forming system.
Namely, in the conventional multi-job copying machine, there is no consideration about application to an image forming system capable of employing an external image forming apparatus, which is the same as the image forming system that has been applied for a patent as TOKKAI No. 2001-333237. Therefore, when a multi-job copying machine is used as an image forming apparatus of the image forming system capable of employing an external image processing apparatus, effective utilization of resources for conducting jobs is not devised, which is a problem.
To be concrete in explanation, when jobs are conducted in the order based on the priority order determined simply in advance, as in the past, a succeeding job needs to wait without being conducted until a preceding job whose priority order precedes is finished.
In the image forming system capable of employing an external image forming apparatus, however, there sometimes is an occasion, depending on a job, wherein some of resources of a multi-job copying machine, such as, for example, a printer section is not used to be out of operation, during a period of image processing conducted by the external image forming apparatus. Nevertheless, in the conventional image system, another job is not allowed to be conducted until the preceding job has been completed, and the printer section is compelled to be out of operation, resulting in that effective utilization of resources is not devised.